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The Mets appeared to be on their way to ending their 11-game losing streak in the series opener vs. Minnesota on Tuesday night. Nolan McLean was dominant and retired the first 15 batters that he faced while Francisco Lindor came up big with a three-run blast to right field that ended up being the only significant offense from the Mets all night. Still, it looked like it would be enough until Byron Buxton took McLean deep over the left field wall just three batters after Matt Wallner became the first Twins batter to reach base with a single to open the sixth inning.
Buck gets us on the board! pic.twitter.com/R584and5SS
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 22, 2026
The two-run home run brought Minnesota within one and put some pressure on New York’s offense to add some runs. Instead, the Mets made 12 straight outs against the Twins’ beleaguered bullpen. While the Mets flailed about, Minnesota broke through against McLean again with Kody Clemens hitting a double with one out in the seventh and Luke Keaschall following up with an RBI single to tie the game. Huascar Brazoban kept the score steady until the ninth, which set the stage for Devin Williams to blow a game for the second time in a row.
Williams started by walking Josh Bell on four pitches and then gave Ryan Jeffers a free pass as well. Clemens bunted to the first base side, but the Mets failed to record an out when pinch runner Josh Outman beat Mark Vientos’ throw to third base. With the bases loaded and nobody out Keaschall hits a ground ball to the left side that bounced past New York’s drawn-in infield. What looked like it could yield an out at home plate turned into an RBI single. Not content to let his defense shoulder some of the blame, Williams then walked Wallner to make the score 5-3 Minnesota.
KEASCH. KLUTCH. pic.twitter.com/U0xxrIZ48B
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 22, 2026
Austin Warren did an amazing job striking out the side to prevent further damage, but it didn’t matter much since the Mets were lifeless in their half of the ninth. I’m all for Warren or Brazoban getting the next save opportunity since it would show the clubhouse that performance matters, but I don’t expect Carlos Mendoza to rock the boat so much despite a disastrous start to the season.
The Mets are back at it tonight with Juan Soto in the lineup against a southpaw making his MLB debut. Surely, now is when the Mets take a break from losing, right?
The Mets got the offense revved up in the second inning on Friday afternoon in Chicago, but it didn’t matter very much since Kodai Senga was a flaming tire fire for the second time in a row. The Japanese right-hander was one strike away from escaping a jam in the bottom of the first, but then Seiya Suzuki dropped an RBI single into right field and Cubs phenom Moises Ballesteros followed up with a three-run opposite taco. The Mets, who have had trouble scoring more than two runs in a game during this long losing streak were down 4-0 out of the gate.
MOISÉS BALLESTEROS FOR THREE pic.twitter.com/S8Y4ef0k99
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 17, 2026
Even before I could say “it’s over,” the Mets surprisingly battled back against Chicago starter Edward Cabrera. MJ Melendez continued his hot hitting with a scorching line drive single to put two runners on base for Marcus Semien, who ripped a double into the gap to get the Mets on the board. After Brett Baty continued his monster slump with a strikeout, Tyrone Taylor ripped a line drive off the left-center field wall for what could have been a two-RBI double. However, Taylor had to settle for a single since he was thrown out by former Mets draft pick Pete Crow-Armstrong. On instant replay it looked like Taylor might have avoided the tag by Nico Hoerner, but Carlos Mendoza chose not to challenge the play and the rally fizzled out on Caron Benge’s fly out with the New York still down a run.
TT drives in ✌️ pic.twitter.com/MTVKbsMwee
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 17, 2026
The momentum didn’t last long, as Senga gave up a two-run blast to Hoerner in the bottom of the inning to make the score 6-3. The Mets wouldn’t score again until the game was well out of hand in eighth inning. The game almost got interesting when the first three New York batters reached base, but then Melendez struck out and Mark Vientos grounded into a double play to doom the Mets to a 12-4 blowout loss.
For the second straight week, a decent offensive showing from the Mets was spoiled by a Senga disaster start. It’s time to consider a change to the rotation, especially with Christian Scott heating up at Triple-A. The lineup could also use a lot of work, but the most pressing concern is Brett Baty, who has 21 strikeouts and zero walks so far, resulting in a .190 on-base percentage. He also is a man without a position since Bo Bichette signed on to play third base. Baty has tried to fit at first base and right field, but he cost the Mets a run with an error on Friday and could be due for a demotion when Juan Soto or Jared Young returns from the injured list.
If the Mets continue floundering into oblivion, at least we’ll have the NBA Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Playoffs to distract us starting this afternoon. The Knicks losing in the first round would be a bigger mess than the baseball season, so hopefully that doesn’t happen. This was supposed to be the Knicks’ year with Jayson Tatum missing most of the season due to his Achilles injury, but now Tatum is back and the Celtics will be favored to beat New York in the Eastern Conference Semifinals if we get that far. The expectation is for the Knicks to finally reach the NBA Finals, but it would be surprising if they got back to the Conference Finals.
There is also WrestleMania this weekend, which means maybe just maybe we’ll get to see Roman Reigns beat up the insufferable CM Punk and return to his role as the Head of the Table at WWE. Also, can Gunther finally get a big win at WrestleMania after being “upset” by Sami Zayn and Jey Uso in the last two years? Speaking of Zayn, I’m looking forward to seeing if he fully commits to his new heel bit and beats Trick Williams or if Williams continues on his rocket ship ride to the top of the company. Another recent NXT call-up who is super hot right now is Oba Femi. If he beats Brock Lesnar on Sunday, Femi could take Lesnar’s place as one of the most intimidating forces in the wrestling world. There’s so much to look forward to!
The very evil and very nice future WWE Hall of Famer Danhausen agreed to uncurse the Mets on Wednesday morning, but New York continued to stumble that night in an 8-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers that completed a three-game sweep. The Mets have now lost eight games in a row and sit in last place in the National League East. Maybe the loss was due to Danhausen’s face not yet appearing on a WWE equipment truck, or maybe the Mets were never cursed and have just been a terrible franchise for the past 40 years. I don’t want to contemplate that second scenario, but after this latest result, it has to be brought into consideration.
Hyeseong starts the game with a BANG! pic.twitter.com/F4xkYqmPNL
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 16, 2026
Clay Holmes kept the Mets in the game with his third straight solid outing, but hope remained bleak due to the offense’s continued ineptness against Dodgers starter Shohei Ohtani. It looked like Los Angeles might have enough runs to win the game when Hyeseong Kim delivered a two-run home run to the right field seats in the second inning.
The Dodgers ended up needing a little bit more than those two runs, but that was only because of a garbage-time run in the ninth inning driven in by Marcus Semien. New York’s other run came in the fifth inning during a stretch that should have allowed the Mets to take control of the game. Ohtani had trouble finding the strike zone during that frame, starting with a walk to Francisco Alvarez. Carson Benge followed with a solid line drive to left field that appeared to land in front of Teoscar Hernandez for a base hit. Unfortunately, Alvarez thought otherwise and headed back to first base instead of advancing to second. This resulted in an easy force out at second base instead of two runners on and nobody out.
MJ comes through! 👏 pic.twitter.com/tFDeiaaQTO
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 16, 2026
Even after the baserunning blunder, the Mets continued to rally with Semien drawing a walk and MJ Melendez, who was just called up that day to replace an injured Jared Young in the lineup, bouncing his second double of the game into the right field seats. The clutch hit could have tied the game if only Alvarez hadn’t ran himself into an out, but it still scored one run and there was still a chance for more. The Mets did not score more, though, because Tommy Pham struck out with two runners in scoring position and then Francisco Lindor lined out to end the threat.
That was the closest the Mets would get to contending in this game. In the sixth inning, Ohtani recovered to strike out the side and Teoscar Hernandez hit a solo shot off of Tobias Myers to put Los Angeles ahead by two again.
Another mistake from Francisco Lindor, whose decision not to charge this ball allowed Teoscar Hernandez to hustle down the line with an infield hit. The Dodgers are now rallying in the eighth. pic.twitter.com/zWW6ZccN9q
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 16, 2026
Hernandez was back at the plate in the eighth to open up the floodgates. The rally started with an innocent ground ball to shortstop, but instead of charging the ball, Lindor backed up on it, and his throw to first was not in time to get Hernandez out. After a walk by Max Muncy and a very long single by Andy Pages, Dalton Rushing drove a Devin Williams hanging changeup over the center field fence for a grand slam and a 7-1 lead.
FIRST CAREER GRAND SLAM FOR DALTON RUSHING! pic.twitter.com/N72dk4GzAq
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 16, 2026
The Mets have a day off on Thursday before starting a three-game series at the Cubs on Friday. It will be nice to have three straight day games after three straight late-night games to start the road trip. Chicago is off to a 9-9 start, but the team appears to be rounding into form with two straight blowout wins over Philadelphia.
The young New York Mets 2026 campaign took a turn for the worse after the team defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 to improve to 7-4 last week. Since then, the Mets have lost seven straight games, and in only two of those games have they scored more than one run. Tuesday night against the Dodgers was a great opportunity to score more than a run because Francisco Lindor led off with a solo home run off of Los Angeles ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto to finally find his first RBI of the season. This could have been the night that the Mets’ offense exploded and snapped the losing skid, but instead Yamamoto settled in and retired the next 20 New York batters in a row before Bo Bichette hit a double with two outs in the seventh inning. With the scored tied 1-1, the Mets had a chance to take a rare lead, but Brett Baty struck out to end the frame.
LAUNCHED!@Lindor12BC | #LGM pic.twitter.com/1mFb1IltM4
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 15, 2026
The Mets were still in the game until late because Nolan McLean proved to be just as brilliant as Yamamoto. He allowed a run in the first when Will Smith hit a double that led to Kyle Tucker scoring on Freddie Freeman’s ground out, but after that McLean was lights out. The most encouraging part was how he stayed in control even when facing the powerful Dodgers lineup for a third time. He even struck out the side in the seventh inning before leaving the game with 95 pitches thrown.
Filth pic.twitter.com/MLzLaGHspC
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 15, 2026
The eighth inning provide another opportunity for the Mets when Carson Benge and Lindor both singled with two outs to finally get Yamamoto out of the game. However, Blake Treinen struck out Luis Robert Jr. to end the threat and the Dodgers pushed a run across in the bottom half thanks to Miguel Rojas’ leadoff walk and Tucker’s bloop single off of Brooks Raley.
Kyle in the clutch! pic.twitter.com/t7zmleECQ6
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 15, 2026
Even with Edwin Diaz out of commission due to a decrease in velocity, the Dodgers had no trouble shutting down the Mets in the ninth, as Alex Vesia struck out the side on just 10 pitches. Almost immaculate!
Juan Soto is still on the shelf for a little while, so it’s hard to foresee an end to the batting struggles, but maybe a supernatural force can step in and lift the Mets out of their long slump.
WWE Superstar Danhausen has officially uncursed the Mets
(h/t @bfg728) pic.twitter.com/y4XgYeaxBd
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) April 15, 2026
Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz appears to have the connections necessary to make this deal happen with Danhausen. As soon as we see his ghoulish face on a production truck, there’s a chance the Mets never lose again.
Wisconsin avoided a letdown game following its shocking upset at Michigan when John Blackwell crushed a triple at the buzzer to give the Badgers a 78-75 victory at Minnesota on Tuesday night. The Gophers led 41-30 over their rivals with 18 minutes left thanks to Jaylen Crocker-Johnson hitting a floater plus the foul, but Blackwell answered with a pair of three-point shots to lead Wisconsin on the comeback trail. The Badgers would lead by as many as nine thanks to former Gopher Braeden Carrington knocking down seven triples of his own for a season-high 21 points, but Minnesota refused to go away. Nolan Winter’s missed free throw with 12 seconds left gave Cade Tyson the opportunity to tie the game at 75-75 with five seconds to play, but Blackwell struck right back with his clutch winner.
WISCONSIN WINS AT THE BUZZER IN AN UNREAL FINISH 😱 pic.twitter.com/LqqiJEFDOt
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 14, 2026
Blackwell led everyone in scoring with 27 points and added five assists as well. Minnesota had four players in double figures led by Crocker-Johnson with 20 points while Langston Reynolds scored 12 points with 10 of the Gophers’ 20 assists.
Talk about two teams going in different directions. Nebraska wrecked Oregon 90-55 to keep the Cornhuskers undefeated at 6-0 in the Big Ten and 17-0 overall. It’s the biggest blowout Nebraska has ever had over a Big Ten opponent in conference play. This is also the best start to Big Ten play that Nebraska has had since joining the conference for the 2011-12 season. Meanwhile, the Ducks are 1-5 in the Big Ten haven’t started this poorly in league play since they went 1-5 to begin the Pac-12 campaign of 2013-14.
Braden Frager goes back-to-back from deep 🔥 @HuskerMBB
📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/JHURPL5b1S
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 14, 2026
The game didn’t start so lopsided. Oregon center Nate Bittle made a layup to tie the score at 28-28 with four minutes left in the first half, but then Oregon rolled off a 14-2 run to gain a 42-30 lead at halftime. The burst was spearheaded by Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager each making two three-point shots, and they would end up torching the nets by each going 7-for-11 from beyond the arc during the game. That accounted for 14 of Nebraska’s 17 three-point shots. On the other side, Oregon made just six shots from beyond the arc while shooting 26 percent from there.
If it wasn’t clear enough from the Michigan State and Indiana results from earlier this month, the Huskers are for real. Rienk Mast has developed into an all-conference player, Sam Hoiberg is a steady hand at point guard, and the Sandfort-Frager combo is lighting up scoreboards. Plus, Nebraska’s defense ranks even higher than its offense on KenPom!
Two traditional Big Ten powers battled in East Lansing, but the hotly contested game turned into an 81-60 Michigan State blowout thanks to Indiana going seven minutes without scoring down the stretch. With just over 11 minutes to play, Indiana’s Lamar Wilkerson dunked to tie the score at 53-53, but Jordan Scott came back with a mid-range jump shot for Sparty to spark a 7-0 run over the next minute that was punctuated by a breakaway slam from Coen Carr. Hoosiers head coach Darian DeVries called a timeout, but it did nothing to get his team back into the game, as MSU rolled off 12 more unanswered points to make the score 72-53 with five minutes left.
Another game, another Coen Carr slam 😌 @MSU_Basketball
📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/tYpx0XKZuU
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 14, 2026
Jeremy Fears Jr. was fantastic for Sparty with 23 points and 10 assists while Jaxon Kohler also had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Wilkerson scored 19 points for Indiana, but no other Hoosiers scored more than nine points, as Tucker DeVries was held to that many on 3-for-10 field goals.
In the night cap, Maryland continued to slump in the first year of Buzz Williams’ leadership, falling at USC 88-71 and dropping to 0-6 in league play. Trojans star Chad Baker-Mazara was limited to seven points in nine minutes due to injury, but Jordan Marsh came through with 20 points off the bench. The gigantic center Gabe Dynes played a larger than usual role for USC with 10 points and eight rebounds. Four of those rebounds came on offense, which contributed to USC’s 13-4 edge on the offensive glass. That led to the Trojans firing off 66 shots in this game compared to just 48 for Maryland. All of those extra shots helped USC overcome a 30-point game from Terps guard David Coit.
Big Gabe 💪
📺 FS1 pic.twitter.com/X7Ok4Rez7D
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) January 14, 2026
Just like with Indiana and Michigan State, this one was close for most of the game, but USC outscored Maryland 25-12 over the last 11 minutes following a three-point shot by Coit that trimmed the Trojans’ lead to 63-59. Jade Brownell made a layup and a triple on consecutive possessions for USC to push the lead to 11 points with six and a half minutes left. Coit tried to stop the run with a layup, but then Marsh and Jacob Cofie hit back-to-back jumpers to put the game away.
There are four more Big Ten games tonight with both Northwestern and my Nittany Lions looking for their first conference wins of the season. Penn State has had a brutal schedule to start league play, so hopefully it can finally pull of a win over UCLA. The Wildcats are coming home to face in-state rival Illinois after losing at Rutgers in overtime. We also have Iowa visiting the Purdue juggernaut and Michigan traveling to Washington for late night hoops.
I was terrible last week, but so was everyone else except Abe, who tightened his stranglehold on the ChabDog picks contest by being sharp when everyone else was being square. Abe had New England when the rest of us had Tampa and New Orleans when the rest of us had Carolina. The only good pick I made was Houston, and that was still a loser after the Texans’ miracle comeback! It took a fluke touchdown at the end to get Houston to cover the spread. At least I finished strong with big wins by the Chargers and Eagles.

Abe might be too far gone at this point, but I can still catch the Tank with a solid Week 11.
Jets +11.5 at Patriots
Jets have won two in a row and the Patriots are wearing ugly uniforms.
Commanders +2.5 at Dolphins
This is such a recency bias spread. Marcus Mariota has played well for Washington with Jayden Daniels out.
Panthers at Falcons -3.5
I should pick Carolina since it was such a letdown last week, but I’m back on the Falcons after they blew the cover and the game in European overtime.
Buccaneers at Bills -5.5
Last week was a fluke for Buffalo. The Bills will bounce back at home against a team from Florida.
Texans -7.5 at Titans
Another favorite that I’m nervous about. Houston crushed Tennessee in their first meeting 26-0.
Bears at Vikings -3.5
Chicago only covered last week because Jaxson Dart got hurt. The squares will say the wrong team is favored.
Packers at Giants +7.5
This has Jameis Winston backdoor cover written all over it.
Bengals +4.5 at Steelers
There’s just something about Joe Flacco! Cincinnati can’t stop a nose bleed, but it’s still hard to bet against.
Chargers -2.5 at Jaguars
I’m going chalk here because of all the fantasy interest I have with the Bolts this week.
Seahawks at Rams -2.5
Chalk again. Rams being favored by less than three at home is disrespectful.
49ers at Cardinals +2.5
Despite getting their doors blown off in Seattle, Arizona has been more consistent than San Francisco lately.
Ravens at Browns +7.5
This game will either go like Bills vs. Dolphins and Saints vs. Panthers last week or like Lions vs. Commanders and Cardinals vs. Seahawks. That’s why picking is hard.
Chiefs -3.5 at Broncos
Major fraud test for the Broncos. I say they fail.
Lions +1.5 at Eagles
Detroit bounced back well last week. Now it is time to assert dominance over the NFC.
Cowboys at Raiders +3.5
Dallas desperately needs this game to justify the Quinnen Williams trade. Raiders have been plucky, though.
Oba Femi is back! The Ruler of NXT had been absent from the wrestling universe since dropping the NXT Championship to Ricky Saints at No Mercy in late September, but he returned to the scene on Tuesday night right after Saints barley survived his bloody Last Man Standing title match against Trick Williams. Williams did everything he could to keep Saints down for a 10 count, including hitting a Trick Shot knee strike, blasting him with the steel ring stairs, burying him under those stairs, and throwing him through a wall, but Saints got up and kept fighting. Williams then brought Saints into the crowd and hit another Trick Shot, but Saints answered by spearing Williams out of the stands and through the announce table below. The epic blow was barely enough to keep Williams down and keep the NXT Championship around Saints’ waist… for now.
Cinema. pic.twitter.com/q2Qxil8WuI
— Aaron Yorke (@AaronPYorke) November 12, 2025
As soon as the match ended, Femi emerged on the entrance ramp to stake his claim to a rematch. With no NXT Championship match on the upcoming Gold Rush card (November 18 and 25 at Madison Square Garden), I’m thinking that Femi will get his shot at becoming a two-time NXT Champion at Deadline on December 6 in San Antonio.
One rematch that is happening at Gold Rush is Tatum Paxley vs. Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Championship. Paxley opened the Tuesday show by granting a rematch to Jayne despite Paxley’s friend Izzi Dame wanting her to be more selective when handing out title shots. If Paxley wins at Gold Rush, it could make the champion more confident in doing things her way instead of listening to Dame. If she loses, Dame can say “I told you so” and continue having Paxley do the bidding of The Culling. That’s why I’m predicting that Dame costs Paxley the title next week. Remember, at Halloween Havoc, it looked like Dame was trying to sabotage Paxley when Dame ran into the ring with the title.
We also set up an NXT Tag Team Championship match on Tuesday with Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater announcing that they’ll challenge DarkState at Gold Rush. Slater appeared to be in a remote location during the announcement, but when DarkState attacked Evans, he ran out from backstage and helped the Bouncy Boy fight off the fearsome foursome. Evans and Slater are a hot team right now, so I could see this going either way. I will give the edge to DarkState since I think Evans is close to breaking out on the main roster. Look for DarkState to interfere with Evans’ match against Gunther on Monday Night Raw the night before Gold Rush.
This is CHAOS!!!@theahail_wwe and @wwe_alba are giving us a good one! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/57mSGcyaAo
— WWE (@WWE) November 12, 2025
The Triple-A Mixed Tag Team Championship is also set to be defended during Week 1 of Gold Rush, and we got a little preview on Tuesday when Thea Hail defeated Secret Hervice member Alba Fyre in a singles match while fighting off interference from Ethan Page and Chelsea Green. Everyone loves Hail and Joe Hendry, but they don’t have the chemistry together than Green and Page do. That’s why I expect the defending champs to win next week. I would rather Hail lose and go on to pursue the NXT Women’s Championship or the Women’s North American Championship than continue teaming with Hendry and living in his shadow.
One more match on the Gold Rush card is Blake Monroe vs. Sol Ruca for the NXT Women’s North American Championship. I feel very good about Monroe winning so that the wedge between Ruca and Zaria is driven deeper. I could see Ruca losing next week and then Zaria winning the Speed Championship during Week 2. That would make Ruca bitter about Zaria only winning when its her title opportunity and not Ruca’s. Remember, Zaria lost the Women’s North American Championship at Halloween Havoc when she stepped in for an injured Ruca.
It wasn’t surprising to see John Cena open up Monday Night Raw last night and hear him hype up his last match ever on December 13. It was a lot more surprising when Dominik Mysterio came out and accidentally got himself booked in a fight for his Intercontinental Championship. Dom busted out all of his tricks in an effort to retain the prestigious title, but Cena ended up defeating him twice. First when Dom tapped out to the STF while the referee was incapacitated and again when Cena rolled through Dom’s Frog Splash and hit the Attitude Adjustment, this time with the referee ready to count to three.
Just one month before his retirement from WWE, Cena has shockingly won his first Intercontinental Championship, which raises the question, will Cena’s final match be a loss for the legendary wrestler? It seems likely now that the anticipated match on December 13 will be for the Intercontinental Championship unless Cena drops the title as suddenly as he won it. Heel Cena had previously talked about going home with the Undisputed WWE Championship and ruining wrestling, but this current version seems content to let the legacy of his current title continue past 2025. Unless Cena is taking the Intercontinental Championship with him into retirement, he is probably losing in his final match, and that only builds the intrigue over who the opponent will be.
We got two more possibilities announced by Adam Pearce on Monday night. The Raw general manager said that Je’Von Evans will face Gunther in The Last Time is Now Tournament next week. Solo Sikoa will also be in tournament action against a mystery opponent. That leaves us with a second mystery entrant with the first set to be revealed on SmackDown as LA Knight’s tournament opponent. Joe Hendry has been speculated as a mystery spot, but I would be surprised if it was him because he doesn’t have a connection to Cena. Oba Femi makes more sense to me because he is larger than life and is someone that fans including myself would love to see fight Cena before he rides off into the sunset. I will currently project Hendry to face Sikoa and Femi to face Knight, but the possibilities are endless. Chris Jericho making a return to WWE would be electric and Trick Williams seems overdue to break out on the main roster.
Next week, the tournament continues.@WWE pic.twitter.com/lwYpsGM495
— Adam Pearce (@ScrapDaddyAP) November 11, 2025
Right now my two favorites to defeat Cena in his final match at The Miz and Gunther. It would probably take some shenanigans to get The Miz past Jey Uso in the first round of The Last Time is Now Tournament, but he just cut a killer promo on Friday and he has history with both Cena and the Intercontinental Championship. Gunther has never faced Cena, but he’s someone who would certainly have had an epic feud with Cena if he had come around a decade earlier. With Seth Rollins out of action, Gunther is returning to the spotlight as WWE’s most dominant heel. He has almost always had a title around his waist since being promoted to the main roster, so it would make sense for him to take the IC Championship back after his glorious run with it two years ago.
Both Rusev and Sheamus won their matches in The Last Time is Now Tournament to advance to the quarterfinals. Both wins were easy to predict since both guys have history with Cena. Sheamus’ case for winning the tournament is interesting because he has never won the IC Championship and December 13 is the anniversary of Sheamus defeating Cena for the WWE Championship many years ago. Rusev has beef with Cena because when Cena beat him for the United States Championship at WrestleMania 31, the Bulgarian Brute’s career was never the same. I like the promo that Rusev cut this week, but I give Sheamus the edge to advance farther in the tournament.
Getting back to that Dom vs. Cena match on Raw, it is interesting that none of Dom’s Judgement Day family was at ringside to help him out, especially since so many of his title defenses have been team efforts. Is this signaling a split between Dom and The Judgement Day? The legacy superstar is already being treated like a babyface by the crowd, and he’s been one of the hottest heels in the company since he betrayed his father three years ago. Pulling the trigger on a babyface turn for Dom would likely ignite a massive run for him with limitless possibilities including a reunion with Rey Mysterio and an underdog run at a major championship. It’s all potential energy right now and the only question for WWE creative is when to push that button.
"Lonely" Dominik Mysterio 👀 pic.twitter.com/uHm0JVWqS4
— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2025
The other big thing to happen on Raw was the formation of teams for WarGames. On the men’s side, CM Punk called out Logan Paul after Paul sucker punched him with brass knuckles last week. That led to Paul coming to the ring with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, which in turn led to Punk fighting them off with the help of Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes. Later in the evening, William Regal showed up out of nowhere to officially announce “WarGames!”
We are still at only three men aside, though. It would be surprising if Roman Reigns didn’t join the babyface side. He’s got a strong bond with Jey and both he and Punk share a disdain for Paul Heyman, the man managing Breakker and Reed. With Reigns in the mix, you might as well throw in Jimmy Uso as well to get the babyfaces to five men. I suppose Sami Zayn is also a possibility if he is medically cleared with the history he shares with Reigns and Uso.
PREPARE FOR WAR. 👀
IT'S TIME FOR WARGAMES!!! pic.twitter.com/GN32iss2JS
— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2025
As for the heels, Drew McIntyre is suspended, so he probably won’t get announced until close to Survivor Series, but he makes too much sense since he doubled down on his feud with Rhodes by Claymore Kicking a referee last Friday. Gunther is also a possibility based on him disappearing since losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Punk at SummerSlam. Kevin Owens has been on the shelf even longer than Gunther and has a score to settle with Rhodes, but I’m not sure how close he is to returning to action. Owens would also make sense as one of the mystery combatants in The Last Time is Now Tournament since he had a major feud with Cena as soon as he came up on the main roster.
The ladies also got into the WarGames spirit when the new team of Nia Jax and Lash Legend showed up to screw over Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss during their Women’s Tag Team Championship match against the Kabuki Warriors. Bliss had done a great job intercepting Kairi Sane with Sister Abigail to stop the Pirate Princess from breaking up Flair’s Figure Four leglock, but Jax and Legend interfered with the submission while the referee wasn’t looking. That led to Sane throwing Bliss over the announce table and then hitting the Insane Elbow on Flair for the pin to crown new champs.
NEW WOMEN'S TAG TEAM CHAMPS!
RHEA RIPLEY IS BACK!
WOMEN'S WARGAMES MATCH IS ON!
WHAT A CHAOTIC ENDING TO RAW! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/S27ZMgbw6D
— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2025
Bliss tried to pick a fight with Jax and Legend after the match and it predictably wasn’t going well until Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley showed up to clear the ring of the heels. Ripley shouted “WarGames!” at the baddies and all of a sudden we had four women on each team. I’m thinking that the final two spots will go to Jade Cargill and either Tiffany Stratton or Bianca Belair depending on who is available. Cargill doesn’t have a challenger for her new WWE Women’s Championship yet because all she did on Friday was say “I’m that bitch” and walk out of the ring. However, she didn’t make it far before bumping into Flair, which foreshadowed beef between the two powerhouses. Both Stratton and Belair have history with Cargill with Stratton just dropping the title to her and Belair teaming up with her before missing time due to injury.
If Stratton and Belair both aren’t cleared, I can see Bayley jumping on on the babyface side due to her history with Damage Ctrl. Nikki Bella and Stephanie Vaquer would make great candidates for WarGames as well, but they appear locked in their own feud after Bella smashed Vaquer with the title following the latter defeating Raquel Rodriguez to defend the Women’s World Championship last night.
Straight from Ava’s office…
Think of @WWE Last Man Standing matches from the past and understand that ya don’t wanna miss tonight!!!@TheCW_Sports pic.twitter.com/UZzA4ZKseM
— Robert Stone (@MrStoneWWE) November 11, 2025
Tonight on NXT, my hero El Grande Americano defends the Speed Championship against Jasper Troy and Ricky Saints faces Trick Williams in what is sure to be an epic Last Man Standing Match for the NXT Championship. Should be a great show.
The Giants announced today that they have parted ways with head coach Brian Daboll. General manager Joe Schoen, who joined the franchise in 2022 right before he hired Daboll, still has a job for now despite two of his six first-round NFL Draft selections being massive busts (Evan Neal and Deonte Banks). To be fair to Daboll and Schoen, the two players they chose in the first round of the 2025 Draft have the potential to be future franchise cornerstones with Jaxson Dart and Abdul Carter both in consideration for Rookie of the Year awards. To also be fair, the rosters produced by Daboll and Schoen have started 2-8 for three straight seasons following the 2022 playoff season.
Brian Daboll has been relieved of his duties; Mike Kafka will serve as interim head coach.
📰: https://t.co/IH63AEqwwl pic.twitter.com/quKIBitNc7
— New York Giants (@Giants) November 10, 2025
Daboll and Schoen both came from Buffalo together in 2022, so in my opinion, they just both leave together. So why was Daboll shown the door before Schoen? Probably because of the Giants losing four games this season in which they held a lead of 10 points or more. In the games at Dallas and Denver, New York scored to take the lead with mere seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. In the game at New Orleans, the Giants turned the ball over on five straight possessions after jumping out to an early 14-3 lead. In the most recent collapse at Chicago, the Giants led by 10 in the fourth quarter before falling apart on both sides of the ball.
If you reverse those results, the Giants are in position to make the playoffs and Daboll might be in line to win Coach of the Year like he did in 2022. Instead, the season has been torturous. Big Blue has shown the potential to be a solid team when it defeated the Chargers and Eagles. In the seven quarters spanning the win over Philadelphia and the start of the Denver game, the Giants looked like a legitimate playoff contender, but instead of closing out the Broncos, New York wilted like it has too often this season. Daboll couldn’t get the Giants across the finish line.
Daboll has also been reckless with Dart. The rookie quarterback has been evaluated for a concussion four times this season, and he was confirmed to have suffered a concussion on Sunday. The injury may have cost the Giants the game based on how ineffective Russell Wilson was in relief. Dart isn’t doing enough to protect himself when he runs, even after he has gained enough yards for a first down. Hopefully interim head coach Mike Kafka will move Jameis Winston ahead on the depth chart so that we don’t have to watch Wilson again this season. It’s a big decision because Dart will probably miss at least one game due to the concussion.
Whoever is the next head coach of the Giants will have big expectations out of the gate. The offense in 2026 will be talented with Dart, Cam Skattebo, and Malik Nabers on the roster. Plus, the Giants will probably have an opportunity to grab a great talent with their first round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The next three opponents this season are Green Bay, Detroit, and New England, so it might be a while until New York improves on its 2-8 record.
Guess who is the Week 9 picks champion at ChabDog? That’s right. It is me, and I did it without hitting on any island picks. The keys to victory were the Falcons, Panthers, Steelers, Raiders, and Bills. On those five picks, I was in the minority with only one other person making the correct selection. On four of those five, it was me and Frank the Tank riding together. We didn’t plan it like that! I was just in a Tank state of mind.

The victorious week put me one game above .500 for the season and just two games behind Frank for second place. Can I stay hot in Week 10?
Raiders +9.5 at Broncos
The Las Vegas offense came alive last week with the return of Brock Bowers. Going up against Denver’s defense will be a tougher test, but I’m thinking Bowers will create enough opportunities to keep the Raiders in the game. The Broncos have won six straight, but four of the six wins are by less than a touchdown.
Falcons +5.5 at Colts
Finally we saw some of the real Daniel Jones last week, as he threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles in a loss at Pittsburgh. Indianapolis probably won’t turn the ball over six times for a second straight week, but I think Atlanta has the weapons to keep this close.
Giants +3.5 at Bears
I expect Caleb Williams to tear up the Giants’ depleted secondary like Mac Jones did last week. Hopefully Jaxson Dart can be heroic and provide an answer to every Chicago touchdown.
Bills -8.5 at Dolphins
Buffalo is back in juggernaut mode since the bye week. The defense did a great job last week hanging on when I thought the Bills would blow it against Kansas City.
Ravens at Vikings +4.5
Baltimore seems to have righted the ship with two blowout wins in a row, but the Vikings just scored a huge upset win at Detroit in J.J. McCarthy’s return to action. I am a sucker for this kid and his grit.
Browns at Jets -2.5
The Jets trading away Sauce Gardner after signing him to a massive contract is a gut punch that even the most pessimistic Jets fans did not see coming. I think the team rallies together and beats the Browns, though.
Patriots at Buccaneers -2.5
This should be a terrific game. I think Tampa Bay superior playmakers (even with Mike Evans out and possibly Chris Godwin as well) make the difference.
Saints at Panthers -5.5
New Orleans is not a spunky underdog anymore with Tyler Shough under center, and Alvin Kamara looks washed.
Jaguars at Texans -1.5
C.J. Stroud is out and Houston just lost a tough one against Denver, but I believe in this Texans defense.
Cardinals +6.5 at Seahawks
Arizona has covered the spread in all three of Jacoby Brissett’s starts, and the defense came alive last week in Dallas.
Rams -3.5 at 49ers
Mac Jones has played well for San Francisco, including a month ago in a big upset over these Rams. Sean McVay and company will not let that happen again. Ram it!
Lions at Commanders +8.5
Marcus Mariota is not a big drop off from Jayden Daniels and my faith in Detroit is shaken after last week’s shocking upset loss.
Steelers at Chargers -3.5
The Bolts were punched in the mouth by Tennessee last week, but they still came back and won comfortably on the road. Yes, the Titans are awful, but that is still a good sign.
Eagles +2.5 at Packers
Philadelphia is a chalky underdog, but you can’t trust Green Bay when it just lost a second game this year as a big favorite.
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Happy Thanksgiving from ChabDog Sports…

There so much to say about this photo and so little time. I love the comment from Deshaun about ankle massages, and who’s that guy with Jordy at the kids’ table…. and who’s the white guy asking for more dark meat… and why is Patrick Mahomes dressed in Britney’s outfit….and I didn’t know Justin Herbert was so funny…and where was Daniel Jones traded to?
ChabDog’s Turkey Day Potpourri —

– For the first course — it’s Bear-meat jerky … really leaves a bad taste in your mouth when served Chicago style
I guess if you’re the Bears, TIME REALLY FLIES WHEN YOU’RE NOT HAVING FUN. Melodrama’s so much fun, in black and white for everyone to see. Coach E’s time management flaws make Coach Tomlin look like a flippin genius. Nero may have watched Rome burn, but at least he didn’t watch a timeout burn a hole in his pocket, like this.
— For dinner — a delicious Dallas Turducken
Jr. jockstrap G-men leave Big D once again quite embarrassed, as Overshown shows them up by PICing the Locke.
— For dessert — It’s Tua Creampuffs sandwiched around the sheen of sherbert colored Aqua Marine.
Same old story … it gets a little uncomfy and the Miami pound machine goes into auto-snooze mode… here with a juicy second down at the environs of the Green Bay 1 … McDaniels chooses to go cute, rather than trying to Ram it home on the ground, and disaster ensues. This team just isn’t tough enough to win against the foot-brawlers like the powers of the NFC Norris, among others.
Well Read’s Posts
Abe’s Posts
NASCAR Preview: Bank of America Roval 400
Hello, Chabdog racing fans, and welcome to the Charlotte Motor Speedway…road course edition! Yes, today we find ourselves on a 17-turn road course with some really cool viewing areas and a pedestrian bridge I wouldn’t mind finding myself on watching all the action. Today is an important race for the 12 remaining NASCAR playoff drivers as four of them will be cut today. You heard that right, we’re going to slice four of them off with the 8 remaining battling it out in Las Vegas starting next week. Below is a preview of today’s road course:

Source: ROVAL-Seating Chart-2021 (charlottemotorspeedway.com)
Qualifying is done for today’s race, and I’ve posted the Top 10 drivers as shown below:

Source: Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course Race Results, Lineup | Official Site Of NASCAR
However, we’re not done yet folks as we’re also in NASCAR playoff season! Fortunately, those, “on the bubble” (9, 10, 11 & 12), still have a chance in this road course to come out on top for next week’s race. Currently, William Byron and Ryan Blaney have secured a spot for winning prior playoff races with 4 bubble drivers doing anything and everything to win this race to clinch a spot for next week. However, I also expect a lot of competition coming from Kyle Larson (7) and Brad Keselowski (8) since they’ll need to put in a good fight to ensure they see any more playoff action next week. So let’s see how we currently stand below:

Source: 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs | Official Site Of NASCAR
Every week the Chabdog Sports Team makes on-air picks on the show for the upcoming NASCAR race and earns points based on the following criteria:
: Anyone who picks the winning driver gets 3 points.
: Anyone who picks the 2nd place driver gets 2 points.
: Anyone who picks the 3rd place driver gets 1 point.
Lastly, if no one picks a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place driver then 1 point is awarded to the picked driver that is closest to the podium. Therefore, in our fantasy game, someone from the team always walks away with a point.
This week’s “chalk pick” is Tyler Reddick.
Last week’s race results:
YellaWood 500 @ Talladega Superspeedway

Source: Talladega Superspeedway Race Results, Lineup | Official Site Of NASCAR


My pick: Tyler Reddick
Lastly, sound off who you think our podium winner is for today’s race in the comments below!
With that, let’s get ready to NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASCAR!
| | @darthvaber99
Abe’s Week 5 Shitty NFL Picks (AST)
Hey everyone and welcome to another episode of me making shitty picks based on flawed science, numbies based solely on Taylor Swift’s game attendance, and drunken logic since my current record is:
Week 1: 6 Week 2: 8 Week 3: 6 Week 4: 8
Also, need to honorably mention that you’ll have a whopping 44.44% chance that you’ll make any money from my fantastic NFL picks, or you can fade me for a 55.56% chance of making money from my shitty NFL picks (not bad). So let’s try this again with the goal of getting into the double digits with my Week 5 picks.
WASHINGTON COMMIES -6.5: OOOOOOF the 0-4 Chicago Bears are simply trash this season, especially after losing to the Denver Broncos (another team that can go into the 23-24 fire dumpster). Yes the Commies, as we like to call them here at Chabdog Sports, are 2-2, however, losing to the Eagles in OT is also no small feat! AAAAAnd everyone knows that the Bears are nowhere near the Eagles, shit, if the Chicago Bears had baby cubs, those cubs would grow up dreaming they too could be mighty Eagles one day. The Bears are fucked this season so let’s ride 0-5.
BILLS -5.5: The 2-2 Jaguars have a great chance this season to lead the AFC South and make it into the playoffs, however, the 3-1 Bills are starting to hit their stride and are simply a better team. Especially after blowing out the Miami Dolphins by 28 points. Again, we will find ourselves in London with no true home-field advantage with the only real advantage favoring the Jags since they’re more acclimated to the timezone difference considering they played in London last week against the Falcons in Toy Story Mode.
TEXANS +1: Amazing to witness that that the 2-2 Texans are simply tied with everyone else in the AFC South in Week 5. I also like how people are starting to give them much more value in picking them considering they blew out the Steelers and the Jags by 20 or more points. Additionally, I’m factoring in how the Falcons just lost to the Jaguars 23-7 while looking at Houston who just blew that team out of the water two weeks ago. +1 seems like a gift from the Vegas Gawds.
LIONS -9: The Detroit Lions are looking like the team that will most likely lead the NFC North this season if nothing changes moving forward. Of course, we need to consider that the Lions come into this game as both the offensive and defensive leader while taking on more formidable opponents by two or more touchdowns in the last two weeks. The 0-4 Panthers are simply bad, and owe those losses to the Vikings, Seahawks, Saints, and Falcons. Teams that have been struggling a little bit out of the gate this season with the Seahawks being the only team with a winning record right now (3-1).
TITANS -1.5: On paper, the Titans and the Colts are simply “even Steven” with the Colts giving up more yards than the Titans. The only real advantage I see here is the Titan’s offense cutting through the Colt’s weaker defense with greater opportunities for the Titans to kick field goals and make stronger offensive drives toward the endzone. On the flip side, Titans QB Tannehill already has 4 interceptions this season and could give up another one in this game to switch the momentum and keep the game interesting. Ultimately, I feel the Titans have the ability to get closer to the endzone with greater chances to kick field goals than the Colts to easily beat them by more than a point and a half.
MIAMI -11: Wow, what a spread. However, one can’t deny that the Dolphins are simply an offensive powerhouse that is playing a ridiculously incompetent NY Giants team. I mean, when Daniel Jones (QB) is his team’s statistical leader as a passer and rusher, you know that guy is just simply skreeeeewed. I don’t know if he can magically do it all against this Miami Dolphins team without getting hurt and being sent to the hospital. Prayers bro…seriously.
PATRIOTS -1.5: The Saints are simply in a bad spot considering that Derek Carr is still questionable as of October 5 for this game and his backup QB, Taysom Hill, got his ass handed to him against the Bucs. Also, like to mention that I stated that on the show to much fury from my co-hosts who thought Hill was going to do something magical against the Bucs…like seriously, WTF are they even thinking??? Additionally, Bill Belichick is ridiculously pissed right now, and I can’t see him losing this game at home against a hurt Saints team.
RAVENS -4.5: Holy caca do the Steelers royally suck this season. I mean, WOW just WOW. How the hell is the spread for this game even -4.5 against a Ravens team that blew out the Cleveland Brown’s impenetrable defense in Week 4? I mean, come on guys, what are we looking at here that I’m missing? We don’t even know if Kenny Pickett (QB) is going to play in this game to add insult to injury here. Easssssssssssssssssy money.
BENGALS -3: I really harped in on the 49ers/Cards game last week, and boy were they defensively awful against the 49ers. If the Cards repeat whatever the hell they did in Week 4 defensively, Joe Burrow (QB) is going to have an absolute field day with them. A confidence boost the Bengals need to get out of this funky slump they find themselves in right now.
EAGLES -4.5: The Rams and the Eagles both have great offensive numbies, but let’s keep in mind that the Rams could have easily been a 3-1 team if it wasn’t for their OT win against the Colts in Week 4. Looking at their Week 2 performance against another strong offensive team (49ers), we saw the Rams lose that game by 7 points at home. Therefore, it’s very possible that the Eagles can soar above this threshold considering they’re extremely motivated to go 5-0 with the Rams in a similar scenario. Something that I referenced in my Week 1 blog recalling them having a stellar start to their season last year, and ultimately going to the Superbowl. See below:
Spectacular run for the Eagles. No one expected them to fly this high for this long, but they did. Won’t be surprised if @rihanna sings for them next year 🦅 https://t.co/NTzj4BYYaf
— Abe (@DarthVaber99) November 15, 2022
BRONCOS -1.5: Hello Dumpster Fire Game of the Week between two real garbage 1-3 teams who are both miserable to watch right now. Even better, the spread is this tiny because they both equally blow in every way. Of course, I’m going to go with the Broncos simply because Russel Wilson is offensively better than Zach Wilson along with the mile-high factor in Denver, and Sean Payton as their Head Coach. Also, the Broncos may feel they’re on the upswing considering they just barely beat another garbage team in Week 4. Unfortunately, I lost that pick simply because the spread was 3.5 and the Broncos beat the Bears by only 3!! Ultimately, plugging in the same formula I applied last week but with a 1.5 spread instead of 3.5.
KC SWIFTS -5.5: Don’t let any offensive numbers fool you that the Vikings are any good, considering the only team they’ve beaten has been the gawd awful Panthers. But I also need you to know that I’ve picked the Vikings wrong every week except Week 4 simply because the Vikings were playing the Panthers (a dumpster fire). So if you’re going to fade me on any pick, this might be the one considering the Chiefs barely beat the Jets last week. However, Taylor Swift might be in attendance and she’s been 2-0 since attending so…
Taylor Swift after Travis Kelce’s touchdown: “LFG!”
This is real.
🎥 @NFL pic.twitter.com/RIJWi4bUe4
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) September 24, 2023
49ERS -3.5: This game is going to be great! Two great teams with decent offense and defense that have really done well so far. Especially the undefeated 49ers. So how do we pick a side here? Well, let’s start with a home-field advantage and the fact that the 49ers killed the Cardinals 35-16 vs the Cowboys who lost to them 28-16 in Week 3. Also like to note that Brock Purdy has yet to throw an interception, but again, not too much else here in the stat box aside from slightly better offensive yardage over the Cowboys when plugging in the numbers.
PACKERS -1.5: The biggest factor in this game is Jimmy Garoppolo (QB) coming into this game off concussion protocol with absolutely no practice time and having already thrown 6 interceptions in the short time he’s played. Additionally, the Packers have Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon to either score touchdowns or gain enough rushing yards to kick a field goal in this one. Lastly, the Raiders have been a disappointment so far, even losing to the shitty Steelers at their own home opener. I am not boasting that the Packers are amazing, but theirs just too much negative juju to put any money on the Raiders right now and a 1.5 spread makes this pick a lot easier in favor of the quesoheads
FINAL THOUGHTS
OK, so the majority of my picks in Week 5 are the favorites this week, however, sometimes matchups line up like stars where there are real justifiable reasons to pick the favorites aside from being favorites. Finally, it’s been fun blogging my picks this NFL season considering I’ve never actually blogged before as we just implemented this thing like 5 weeks ago here at Chabdog Sports! Especially learning how to do things, like embedding tweets like you see above. Of course, it takes me like 40 times longer to write this thing out since there’s no real instruction manual on how to work this thing, but it’s been fun figuring it out, and glad that Chabdog Sports has this amazing website that does so many cool things that is similar to what I’ve seen my gawd brudder, “Frank The Tank”, do over at Barstool Sports. Can’t tell you how much I’ve seen this place grow since I’ve been here
| | @darthvaber99
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Will 2025 Make the Mets Great?
The Mets won another offseason title in 2024 when they signed Juan Soto to the largest contract in the history of professional sports. That is an awesome move and the Mets may become World Series contenders for years to come, but it won’t be only because of Soto. We’ve seen megastars struggle to qualify for the Postseason in baseball (most notably with Abe Miranda’s Anaheim Angels) and we’ve seen hyped Mets signings like Justin Verlander fail to convert offseason banners into real ones. What makes Soto different? Well, he might be a more talented slugger than the Mets have ever signed before with an on-base percentage above .400 in each one of his seven big league seasons. Most importantly, though, is the fact that Soto is joining a team that won a couple of Postseason series in 2024. He doesn’t have to be a savior, but I also can’t help but think that the Mets needed to do more over the winter to secure a bid in October.
If the Mets fall short this season, it will probably be because of the starting rotation. Two years ago, Kodai Senga and his Ghost Fork emerged as a star, but in 2024 he got hurt and missed 99 percent of the season. Fortunately, Sean Manaea put together a career year at age 32 and provided stability to the rotation alongside Luis Severino and Jose Quintana. Over the winter, the Mets brought back Manaea on a three-year deal, but they let Severino and Quintana walk while adding Frankie Montas, Griffin Canning, and Clay Holmes to replace them. Holmes was the Yankees’ closer last year, but he was demoted in October and hasn’t made a major league start since 2018.
Aaron’s Week 18 NFL Picks
Here we are at Week 18 and there is no more time for me to improve my dreadful picks record for this season. Mathematically, it is still possible to get back to .500, but that will require an incredible heater, and heaters are difficult when a lot of teams aren’t trying to win this week. Not only that, but the motivations for these teams are fluid and the NFL is too stupid to play all these games at the same time like a proper league would. For example, the five seed in the AFC is valuable because that team gets to travel to feeble Houston in the Wild Card Round instead of Baltimore or Buffalo. If Pittsburgh wins on Saturday, it takes the Chargers out of the running for that spot and they could lay down for the suddenly surging Raiders.
I’ll be taking the Steelers since they are home underdogs (even though that didn’t work last week) and the Chargers with the hope that they are motivated to stomp Las Vegas. The Ravens are now favored by an unheard of 20 points vs. Cleveland because they are playing for the AFC North title, so I’ll get out of their way and lay those points. Washington has clinched a Playoff spot, but there is plenty of reason to win at Dallas because a loss might force the Commies play at Philadelphia in the Wild Card Round instead of at Los Angeles against a Rams offense that has been held under 20 points in three straight games. That same motivation is in play for the Packers, who need a win and a Washington loss to avoid Philly. Speaking the Eagles, they have chosen against embarrassing the Giants by having Saquon Barkley rest instead of shattering the single-season rushing record against them. That gives me hope that Big Blue can end the season with a second straight win. Hopefully there will still be someone talented to select when our first round draft pick finally comes around.
Buffalo is also laying points while resting starters, but I trust Mitch Trubisky enough to give it the nod against New England. Denver is a massive favorite over Kansas City in a must-win game for the Broncos. I think they get the job done, but Carson Wentz playing spoiler would be hilarious, so give me the points in that one. In the great Sunday Night Football game, I like the Lions despite their defensive issues. They might be scarier on offense with Jahmyr Gibbs taking on a heavier workload due to David Montgomery’s injury.

Aaron’s Week 17 NFL Picks
Merry Christmas! Roger Goodell gave his haters a special gift this year by figuring out how to play NFL football on a Wednesday while lining the owners’ pockets with Netflix money. That’s great news for those of us who thought we would have to watch the NBA on Christmas. The only thing that can make the deal better is if I can get a couple of picks correct. The Steelers are down bad after two straight double-digit losses to Super Bowl contenders, but now they are home underdogs against the Chiefs, and I love their chances to win outright even though Kansas City has finally started covering spreads. In its only other road dog spot this season, Pittsburgh defeated the Ravens outright. In the late game, Baltimore looks to cover as a road favorite for the third time in a row. I’m happy to lay those points with how Lamar Jackson and the offense have played all year.
For the Boxing Day special, I am doing the square thing and taking Seattle. It has been a long time coming, but I finally have confidence in the Seahawks again, even if it is only because they are playing a Chicago team that has lost nine in a row, with the last three coming by at least two scores.
The Chargers coming east on a short week is a little scary, but they play an east coast style of ball, so I will bank on them bludgeoning New England. The Bengals are finally hitting their stride, but I don’t think they hold off Bo Nix and the bucking Broncos. Arizona is in a tailspin, which means that it is time to Ram It. Sean McVay’s team is coming off ATS wins against two other tailspin teams in the 49ers and Jets.
Sunday will feel strange with just nine games on the slate, but Green Bay at Minnesota should be a great game. The spread being fewer than three points is a little disrespectful to the Vikings, so I will roll with them. In the late afternoon, almost everyone will be watching the Cowboys and Eagles. Let’s go with Dallas and the huge number since Dem Boyz have won four of five and have figured out how to run the ball lately. In prime time, I like how Michael Penix Jr. looked in his first start enough to take Atlanta in Washington’s letdown spot. Laying points with the Lions is the squarest pick of the week for me, but they came through as a big road favorite last week, so it must be done.

Aaron’s Week 16 NFL Picks
I went 9-7 last week and clawed to within 15 games of .500 at 104-119-1 with three weeks to play. That ground is not impossible to make up, but it is going to take foresight, discipline, and some hefty road favorites covering this week. Just look at that Detroit line at Chicago. It’s over a touchdown even though the Lions were shredded on defense last week and nearly allowed a miracle comeback by Caleb Williams on Thanksgiving. So why are we backing Detroit? Because this season, laying the big number with Detroit has paid off. The Lions are 3-1 against the spread when being favored by seven or more, and I expect them to pound the struggling Bears.
I am also taking the Rams, Eagles, Vikings, and Buccaneers as road favorites. They probably won’t all work out, but maybe they will go 3-1 since all four are surging right now while playing inferior competition. I actually like the Giants pick this week since they were able to move the ball a little against Baltimore and Michael Penix Jr. is making his first start for Atlanta. Maybe a rookie mistake or two will help the Giants intercept the ball for the third time this season.
I might not even watch the NFL on Saturday because of the College Football Playoff and a decent college hoops slate, but I expect Kansas City and Pittsburgh to come through for me. The Chiefs have transformed into favorites with the news that Patrick Mahomes is practicing fully this week, so getting two and a half points makes this one the easiest pick on the board. For the Steelers, they failed me as underdogs in Philadelphia, but I’m rolling with them again since they own Lamar Jackson.
Back to Sunday, I am becoming the Carolina whisperer as I smartly jumped off the bandwagon last week when Sir Purr and company became favorites against Dallas. However, now the Cats are back to being dogs and facing a floundering Cardinals team at home. Sign me back up!

Aaron’s Week 15 NFL Picks
Bad news for the haters: None of my fantasy teams made the playoffs, so I have more attention to devote to picks! We are running out of time to make a comeback, but at least I don’t have to worry about how much FAAB money to drop on the waiver wire every week. What I do need to worry about is whether or not the 49ers are back. They burned my strategy of continuing to fade them with their destruction of the Bears, but I think they come back to Earth in a tough divisional game. I am going to Ram It for the first time in a while.
In the next three games, I have big home dogs. The Chiefs never cover, so Cleveland is an easy pick. Cincinnati’s cover in the Simpsons game was a total fluke and Lisa Simpson won’t bail them out this time. Tennessee was terrible against Jacksonville, but I’m sure Will Levis will bounce back now that I’m not relying on him to save my fantasy team. New Orleans is getting way too many points against a Washington team that hasn’t impressed lately.
That brings us to the return of Tommy DeVito to MetLife Stadium. I am actually happy to see him again because Drew Lock was beyond miserable last week, but that doesn’t mean the Giants have a snowball’s chance to beat Baltimore. I think the Ravens win by at least 20 as Derrick Henry attempts a single game rushing record.
The Giants will not be fun to watch, but Dallas at Carolina should be a pretty interesting game considering how bad the record are. The Panthers have been money against the spread as a dog, but I’m not feeling them as a favorite. I think the Cowboys win outright. The Jets are another team I don’t feel great about as a favorite, but I feel better about them than the Jaguars. Plus, Aaron Rodgers is coming off one of his best games a Jet.
Dolphins vs. Texans is close to a toss-up, but I’ll take Houston because of how consistently it runs the ball with Joe Mixon. I feel a lot better about Denver as a home favorite because of how well it has played lately with three straight wins by more than a touchdown. The Lions are still an auto pick because they never lose, and the Steelers get the nod in the underdog spot as usual.
I have to fade the Cardinals, as they have hit the skids with three straight losses. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has won three straight, but the Chargers are a big step up in competition and should handle the Buccaneers at home. I am going to feel like a fool if I lose against the Seahawks again, but the Packers are playing too well, so we’ll try fading Seattle one more time.
Both home teams look good in the Monday night slate. Sam Darnold has played some of the best football of his career lately for Minnesota, and the Falcons have not played well enough lately for me to trust them against my plucky Raiders.




